Aerial Seal Beach – 1920s

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This photo is listed as being from the twenties, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was actually taken in the early thirties. Except for a few cars driving through past on Highway One along the top of the photo, Seal Beach is empty of any signs of life. The pier, Main Street, the roller coaster and Joy Zone are all deserted. Maybe this was a chilly winter morning during the off-season, but this image seems to capture Seal Beach in a moment when it was past its heyday as an amusement park attraction.

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1 Response to Somber Seal Beach

Philip Stanton became so upset with The Woman’s Club of Seal Beach because they wanted to stop the drinking and dancing at least on Sunday.

“The Woman’s Club has undertaken and at the present date, December 26,1923, we are not real sure that this will become an actual accomplishment as officials of the Bay Side Land Co., including, Isaac Lothian, P. A. Stanton and Jacob Transue feel that the City Trustees should not prohibit Sunday dancing in the City it is said ‘they are going to fight us to a finish and if they can’t run this town as it has been run for the last 7 or 8 years, they will close it up tighter than an abandoned mining camp.’
How this would be the very first thing that could happen to help the Woman’s Club out in their real work.
The ordinance was drawn up and after being introduced and read at a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees on Jan. 3rd 1924 and again was read and adopted at a meeting held Jan 17th 1924, it became a real ordinance regulating public dance halls.”

This was taken from the 1923 minutes of the Woman’s Club of Seal Beach. Do you think Philip Stanton carried out his threat?

This Date in Seal Beach History

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